Indonesians Trapped in Yemen to be Evacuated by Military Aircraft

Liputan6.com, Jakarta The situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate as Saudi Arabia decided to launch a military operation in the region. It has been learned that as many as 4 thousand Indonesians are still trapped within the country in the wake of deteriorating conflict.

The Indonesian government plans to perform immediate evacuation procedure on these individuals in Yemen. In trying to hasten the evacuation process, the government has dispatched its Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) Military Aircraft.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Relations, Retno LP Marsudi informed how the evacuation process has been underway since the 1^st of March 2015 and the Indonesian citizens there have been gradually evacuated.

"However, due to the volatility of the situation which shows a drastic change in only 1,2 day, there are evacuation plans that we revised," Retno informed as quoted from setkab.go.id on Tuesday (31/3/2015).

Retno explained how the government would resort to using the military aircraft belonging to TNI for the evacuation process.

The plans to do so have all been revised and ready to be executed.

"The evacuation plan has already been thoroughly discussed. The plan includes direct coordination with the local ministries and involving institutions. And surely, TNI Commander and other military personnel will also take part in this particular mission as the risk is very high in the war zone," Retno continued. 

Minister Retno also claimed that she has communicated with 3 countries such as Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia to ask for flight clearance as to assure the safety and uninterrupted evacuation process on Indonesian people.

It is very dangerous as the area is currently decorated with violent conflict and there is a possibility of Indonesian military aircraft to be victimized from unintentional airstrike.

That is why it is imperative for Minister Retno to address Indonesia’s friendly intention to evacuate its people without intending to disturb or intervene the current conflict in the region.

From the information retrieved, 80% of Indonesian students are situated in the eastern part of Yemen.

"There are a total of 4.159 Indonesians out there. 2.626 of them are university students. 1.488 of them are workers and the other 45 are the Indonesian Embassy staff along with their families," Minister Retno added. (Akp/Ein)